


Not Brick or Stone, or Comfort in the Firelight

by metaphasia



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 09:23:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13051152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metaphasia/pseuds/metaphasia
Summary: Inej was a child raised without a fixed home. Somehow, now that she had grown, she found herself with not one home, but three; her family's caravan, tracking across the world, her ship, sailing across the sea, and Ketterdam, where the Dregs were. And Kaz.





	Not Brick or Stone, or Comfort in the Firelight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovebeyondmeasure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovebeyondmeasure/gifts).



> Title from "Still Breathing" by Duran Duran.

The _Wraith_ slid through the water, as silent as her namesake and captain. The sea was as dark as the hull, black under the night sky. The black ship was more visible through the way that it blotted out the slight reflections of stars on the waves than through any actual light or color of its own.

Inej laid down at the top of the mast; she had claimed the spot as her own private sanctum early on, and retreated there whenever there was a lull in activity on board. It made her feel secure; it wasn't just that it was the highest point on the ship, and the long years in Ketterdam had taught her to associate height with safety, where few dared to follow her, or even that the very name of the crow's nest reminded her of Kaz.

The Suli lacked lands, and their nomadic nature had caused them to develop a number of traditions unlike those of other nationalities. Her father had taught her when she was young, young enough that she had not yet formed roots to any of the places they had stopped while traveling. _Look to the stars, Inej_ , he had told her, as they lay stood outside the tents of their caravan on one warm night. _The stars shine down on us all; whenever you miss somewhere, look to the stars and remember that they shine down on those you are missing as well_.

 

Inej sat up, and looked out over the waves, slowly making a complete circuit around the mast, her keen eyes seeking out any movement or shadows on the water that would indicate her ship wasn't the only one prowling at night. Satisfied that the ocean was clear out to the horizon, she lay back down. Unlike the city, where danger could lurk around every corner, and you were never safe, the ocean was predictable and moved at a positively glacial pace. She only had to check periodically to make sure that they were still alone on the waters and safe while the rest of her crew slept.

When Kaz had first freed her from the Menagerie, she had gone to the top of the Slat on that first night and looked for the stars to try to feel that connection back to her family. But the constant overcast of clouds above Ketterdam meant that the sky was rarely visible, and when it was, the lights that the city emitted drowned out their more distant cousins above. The sense of disconnect that had led Inej to become the Wraith had been helped along by the way she had missed the stars.

Strangely, she still felt their loss even now. It was much weaker than it had been before their last heist; the trip to the Ice Court had been the longest she had been under the stars since she had last seen her family. It had helped her firm up her resolve and figure out her goal to end slavery. It had broken entirely that night by the bay, when Kaz had revealed that he had found her parents, and brought her family back to her.

The Suli were wanderers, and Inej was their true daughter; she had never felt the need to stay in place, to settle down that others felt. But Kaz, her beautiful, impossible Kaz, had broken her, just as the warning in his name had told her he would. The  _Wraith_ had stayed near Kerch initially, while Inej and her new crew figured out how to work together and got a feel for each other and their new vessel. But this had been their longest voyage to date, just over a month out, and Inej had already been feeling the pull back towards Ketterdam from the first day.

Her mission was already succeeding however; after only a year patrolling the waters around Kerch, and slavers had begun to look for other ports to call on.  _Beware a black ship with black sails_ , she had heard whispered in taverns on her last stopover in the city, hanging in the rafters and gathering information.  _If your heart is also black, it will come for you. The ship called the Wraith is as dangerous as its namesake and captain, and comes upon you as unexpectedly. The dread ship seeks revenge on pirates, and it leave no survivors._

  
  


Inej heard a creak from below, and tensed. Silent as she always was, she glanced over the side, and saw that it was simply one of her crew coming out for the next watch. She traded places with him, and then headed back down to her quarters. When she finally laid down in her bed, Inej rubbed the inside of her left wrist.  _Left for your heart_ , Kaz had said. The last time she had been home, she had finally mentioned the Suli tradition, how the fact that you couldn't see the stars meant that when she was at sea, she was adrift from those back in Ketterdam, from Kaz. He had never been good at saying things, Kaz would never admit aloud how he felt. And a year and a half ago, when she had given him her ultimatum, she had hoped he would be driven to admit his emotions if she gave him a reason, forced him to speak what he felt for her in order for her not to leave. But over the past year, between her constant trips back and forth from the city, she had realized that though he may never be willing to say anything true, anything deep, he had never hesitated at showing his emotions. When she had told him about her desire to end slavery, once and for all, he had gotten her the best ship that he could. The last time that she had been home, when she mentioned how the Suli followed the stars, Kaz had taken her out to get them both matching tattoos, unique, of a ghostly crow fading into view from nothingness, with stars radiating out instead of eyes.  _The crow, the wraith_ , he had said, half of each of them.  _It's not a star everyone can see, but it will always be there for the two of us_ .


End file.
